Interview with Milenko Vujesevic

or...

THE ALMIGHTY 'ENSH'  

My next interview is with a good friend of mine Milenko Vujesevic (aka. Ensh), he is an entrepreneurial musician and performer from Belgrade, but grew up in Canada. I first met him at a small show in Black Sheep (a hard-core venue in Novi Sad), I was really impressed with him and his whole show. Later on I invited him to perform at CE and recently had the privilege of performing with him on a short tour we did of Graz, Austria. I thought his story about following his passions to earn a living through music were really inspiring for all young people who may be trying to do the same. He is also a fantastic person, so relaxed and encouraging. Every time before I performed with my band I was so nervous and he was always reassuring us and supporting us, it really meant a lot to me.  I hope you all enjoy this short interview; he really did have a lot of good advice and interesting things to say.

Where are you from, and what do you do?

I was born in Belgrade, Serbia. When I was about one my parents decided to move to Toronto, Canada. I grew up there. About two years ago I was going through a major life shift. I was in a toxic relationship, in a dead end job and wasn’t really pursuing my music. Pretty much overnight I uprooted my whole life and moved back to Belgrade. Ever since I’ve been writing, recording and touring with my music.

How did you start making music and where did it begin

The first song I wrote was a song called “My Baby’s Blues”. It was for my grade 8 talent show in Toronto. My friends Mike Powers and Dan Honan played the guitar and drums respectively. I sang. Most of the lyrics were just Elvis song titles and the song was just your standard 12 bar blues. I wore a bathrobe with hearts on it, on stage. I was super nervous, but I fell in love with the whole process: writing, singing, performing, promoting, organising, I loved it all. I’ve been involved in music ever since. After a couple of high school bands I started a project called Lacerda as a solo act doing stuff that’s kind of similar to what I’m doing now. Eventually I decided to make it a full band and we toured North America a whole bunch, but the music had drastically changed direction and after a while it just wasn’t working out anymore.  My return to my birthplace of Belgrade prompted the start of Ensh. Kind of back to my electronic roots. 

What made you want to do this?

I kind of just feel like I have to do it. I love it. The goal with pretty much everything I do in life is to make it possible for me to keep writing, recording and touring. 

What were the hardest parts of making a career from music?

I think in any creative field the main problem comes down to money and sustainability. There isn’t a whole lot of certainty in a music career and I’m not at a huge level where I’m raking in cash. However because of the global economic situation I feel like a lot of engineers and doctors are in a similar situation. There are obviously career paths with more certainty than music so there’s an added level of pressure and responsibility on creative people who pretty much have their own little mini businesses  (in addition to writing and playing music I also have to be my own manager, booker, merchant etc..). But like I said I love all of it, I wouldn’t change anything.

Do you also have other jobs or projects that you work on?

I have other jobs that I supplement my income with. I teach vocal lessons, I teach English lessons, I do some musical production,  and I am involved in partially managing my  family business. So I am fairly busy. My biggest priority is my mobility so I try and have jobs that have a fair bit of fluidity.

What are the best parts of having a career like this

Traveling and meeting interesting people having conversations with those people. Getting to perform songs I’ve written. I love everything about what I do. 

Where do you see this going in the future?

That’s a tough one. I don’t really know. Like I said there’s a fair bit of uncertainty in what I do. Right now things have been going steadily on the incline. I am getting more and more positive attention, more show offers, etc. I think as long as things are going forward it’s safe to say that I’ll continue doing what I’m doing hopefully the scope will be a bit larger and more sustainable, but I’ll probably continue in some capacity either way.

What would be your advice to other young people who want to do something similar?

Be persistent. Be ready for anything. It’s going to really suck at times, but if you really REALLY want to do it, you’ll keep at it. Make sure there’s a degree of honesty in everything you do because people respond best when you have that level of relatability. Try to be as easy going as possible. Things will most likely NOT go the way you expect.

What are some thoughts that you have on life, some things that you have learnt or somethings that you really want to share with others?

I've travelled a great deal with my music for years. I've met people from all over and from all walks of life. What struck me the most have been the similarities and not the differences. Cultural differences are minor... every culture has its own version of whatever the other culture has. In my experience people from all over just want their own slice of life, the little differences within that slice are often negligible. I wish everyone had the means to travel all over. It would go a long way in establishing some perspective.

https://soundcloud.com/ensh

https://www.facebook.com/Milenkovujo?fref=ts

The Next 3 Days
 

 

3 is a magic number. 

In 3 days we will finally be opening CE Graz, after 2 years of working on opening in Austria its hard to believe that its actually happening. When you have working towards something for so long, you can kind of get stuck in the process, the end goal feels very far away and it seems like its going to happen one day, but that day seems far, far away. When I see the physical results of all of our thoughts and actions, it makes me realise more and more that everything is possible. It does take a lot of work and time, thought and care but it really is possible. Its been 5 years since I came from England to Serbia, 3 years since the bar in Serbia opening and now in 3 days we have the shop in Graz opening party. When I arrived from the UK at the airport in Belgrade, ready to start a new life, I could have never imagined that all of this would happen. I was speaking about this with a friend and I was saying how the life I am in now would have never been in my thoughts at all. Imagine now in 5 years time from today what we will be doing and all the possibilities that will lay before us, we cannot even imagine it.

Has it been more difficult to open the shop in Austria then in Serbia? I have to say each place had its unique struggles and stories to tell, and with this one its just the beginning. Our shop in Novi Sad will always be so special to me, mostly beause of the incredible fight that we had to put up for it. The struggles that we faced were so strong that It really made me treasure it, love it and want to keep It alive and running. The place here still needs to live its stories, it still needs to have its unique struggles, so far its been very eventful, but I am sure there is plenty more to come.

Something I was realizing was also how all the struggles and problems you face when doing what you want to do are what make sure that you really care for it. The more problems that we have, the deeper and clearer the memories are for me. I love when people ask me to tell them what I am doing with my life and I just know that the story is so long, we won’t have time for it. Or when they ask me where I am living, where is CE or how it started. So much has happened that I can never give a one sentence answer. That is how I would love for my whole life to be, so many good stories, struggles and of course lots of successes as well.

Another exciting thing is that my band will be performing in Graz two shows in the next two days. Anyone who knows me well can say that I am for sure not a talented musician, but I love to perform and play. Normally when I play in Novi Sad its really ok for me to make a lot of mistakes and to laugh about it, I guess because I know everyone and of course… how hard can it be to get a gig in your own bar (Culture Exchange). We make a lot of jokes on stage about having talked to the manager etc… A lot of the show for me has always been fun, with a little bit of seriousness… I know I cannot be totally serious with my level of skills and also the way I look at everything in life… I kind of find most things pretty funny. Something about performing in Graz in front of people that I don’t know too well, who are all musicians and talented people, made me extra nervous. I started to really panic about the shows and worry that I would be really mocked, I even had a few nightmares. My friend brought me back into reality when she reminded me that we are never doing a show for anyone but ourselves and the most important thing is to do our best.  Its really interesting, because I never compare myself with anyone and I am normally just accepting myself the way I am, but thoughts of performing really filled me with insecurity and I was looking at everyone in the band as far more talented. I relaxed when I realised that we all have a role to play. even though I am not the best at playing guitar or singing and I have not studied music. I play my role by pushing the band to doing their shows, to making stuff happen, which has always been my strongpoint. Its something which I have been thankful  for all my life, that no matter how I feel about myself or how realisitic my skills are, I seem to always push myself to do uncomfortable things or to make it happen. 

So 3 days, 3 big things happening, next post will be about how it all goes

Interview with Daniel Lukas and Jake Gilkinson

Bike trip from London to Istanbul

Last year in May I met two guys cycling from UK to Istanbul. During their cycling trip they got caught in the huge floods that were across Serbia and Bosnia, but it did not stop them, they cycled through the whole 3 days of rain and made it to Istanbul in good time. I was really impressed by both of their positivity and the fact that they were so young, just 18 years old… I would have been really scared to take on an adventure like that when I was 18. I love the fact that they just did what they wanted to do and didn't prepare too much, so many times I am working so hard to prepare for something that in the end I dont think I can actually manage, I guess I already used most of my energy in thinking too much and hard about something, less talking... more doing is how we should live. They had lots of cool stories to share with us, some pretty horrific accidents and lots of great moments. I asked them to write something for my blog about their bike trip, I hope you enjoy the read.

1.       Can you briefly describe your journey, how far you went and how long it took 

We cycled 2036.7miles from our homes in South London to the gateway to Asia, Istanbul. The journey took us through 11 countries across Europe.

2.       Can you tell us what made you want to do a trip like this

We had just wanted to get away from home and work for a considerable amount of time and not costing us too much money.  We wanted to visit countries we have never been before and we also knew some people along the way that we wanted to see. We are both adventurous and like to challenge our selves so this would be the perfect trip. Moreover Daniel had previously cycled to Africa with his Dad and he want to carry on the tradition of going to a new continent for the first time by bicycle. We also wanted to raise money for some charities, one being Crohns and Colitis and the other a jungle hospital in Honduras.

 

 3.   How much did you prepare and what did you prepare

We did not do much extra training, as we knew that we wouldn’t cycle at a fast pace. We also cycled in our day-to-day lives to and from work and around London as it is the best way to get round. We had to sort out lot with equipment such as bike and bags and camping equipment. We didn’t over prepare, we thought if we had any problems, we could sort them out along the way.

 4. What were the hardest parts of the trip for you

Although Serbia had by far the most welcoming people, it was not without its problems with the never-ending potholes and huge floods.  We got very cold. Istanbul was very dangerous, but we could see the end at that point. Also finding somewhere to sleep.

 5. What is the best and more rewarding part of these kinds of journeys

Meeting people, hospitality, appreciating little comforts, slow way to travel, getting to see so much more, it keeps you fit, and not knowing what was going to happen that day. 

 6. What stood out to you as something important that you learned on the trip

Patience and sharing, living with someone for 24 hours a day. A lot of really helpful people. How to start a fire without matches and when its been raining for 3 days and how to cook good rice.

 7. Will you continue cycling, what are your plans?

Yes! Almost everyday around town. And we are planning to do a shorter trip form south to north of Sweden this summer as we do not have as much time

 8. What advice would you give to other people who want to do a similar trip

Set some time aside and see what happens. You will learn along the way, you don’t have to be super fit or prepared. Don’t overthink it too much. Relish in the unknown,

Interview with Lola Kapris

she lives here

This is an interview with my friend Lola, who has been living and working in Hong Kong for the last few months. 

I think this is a great story, because she is from Serbia and really went for what she wanted and got herself somewhere different and changed her life. Lots of my friends in Serbia feel kind of trapped here, without much hope for the future. I understand that it is easier for me to travel and fulfil my dreams with my British passport and freedom to go where I want to go, but I do think its possible for anyone to make and break if its what they really want to do. I have known Lola for around 5 years and I have seen her go through so many things. I know that to get to where she is today she struggled through so many things and tried many, many times before she was successful. I saw her at many times really discouraged from her efforts, she wrote so many different interviews and sent her CV to lots of places before she actually got accepted for Hong Kong. She also had a lot of options fall through and things go wrong at the last minute, including her visa for Hong Kong, which took an extra 2 months, where she was waiting and did not know if she would even get it.

I have seen her go through ups and downs and I really respect her and think that her story is especially inspirational. Enjoy the interview everyone

1. Explain to us what you are doing in Hong Kong, and how your life is like there?

My official title is ‘International tutor’ and my job includes teaching English, organizing interactive workshops and ESL activities as well as providing pastoral care to the students in my student hostel. My life here is pretty nice. Hong Kong is an amazing, vibrant place to live in because it has a huge variety of food, especially Asian food from all over Asia, a lot of expats just like me, a transportation system that’s one of the best in the world, as well as a very low crime rate. So believe it or not, even if you lose your wallet or phone, there’s a higher chance it will be returned to you safely rather than it disappearing (which did happen to my friend, twice… so yeah). All I do here is work until 4 pm mostly (my working hours are flexible) and then I go and eat some nice food and meet friends in the evening to either eat again (warning: it’s easy to get fat here) or go to happy hours that are easy to find. On special days, we go and visit temples or go hiking and so on, so it’s pretty awesome. Lot’s to do.

2. What was the journey you went through to get to where you are now?

Umm, well, back in Serbia I had three jobs (including working in the café which I loved and miss so much) but none of them were lucrative enough to give me a nice life, so I had to look for something better, because I was really low on money. I had to go through a lot of different job interviews and turn downs before I got this one, so it was really stressful, but definitely worth waiting for.

3. For a young person coming from Serbia what are the obstacles you faced to find a job in Hong Kong?

Well, it’s always great when people ask you where you’re from and you say Serbia and they’re like ‘Oh..’ in a tone filled with disappointment, but for me personally, it was hard to get an English teaching job because they wanted native speakers and obviously I’m not one, so I had to prove that I was good enough to work with native speakers. It was a challenge for sure, but actually we’ve all established that it’s better to have both native speakers and people like me, because students can relate more to me (because English is my second language too) while they can learn more about the culture and study abroad programs from them, so it’s basically a win-win situation.

4. What advice would you give for other young people who want to do something similar?

Do it. We’re young now and now is the best time to take risks and discover what it is that you want to do in life. If you decide to leave your comfort zone and explore, you’ll learn so much more about yourself and how to be alone, make new friends, overcome obstacles at work, get in touch with your roots even more and grow in so many different ways. The biggest lesson I learnt from this experience is that the world is so small and that nothing is impossible if you really put your mind to it. There are no excuses. All you need to do is work, work, work. :D

5. What motivated you to push through until you got to where you needed to go?

Mostly the fact that I had no more money and that I would probably get sick if I continued in that pace. There were only two options for me and they were either go and get a better life or stay and be miserable forever. So I chose to go and even though I miss my boyfriend, family and friends (who gave me so much support through all this) and other things about my country, there are still many more opportunities here for me to pursue and become who I want to be eventually. I chose to be happier, simple as that.

6. What do you see happening in your future and where do you want to go from here?

So many things need to happen in my future. I want to become a better teacher, get even more certificates and my master degree, try to work in other countries too and see how they do things. I want to learn a lot about teaching, to see how education is changing and be a part of that change. 

where she really belongs... at CE with me :)

Her teaching crew in Hong Kong

 

Pretending to be….life lessons on making bikes, ego, and who we pretend to be

Today I completed the building of a bike that I had been working on for around 4 months (yeah I know how slow I am). I started trying to learn more about bikes the last couple of years. I guess I really wanted to be good at it, because I thought it was cool… also I do love cycling, but I thought the idea of a girl bike mechanic was very cool. The problem with trying to do something only because you think its cool is that its not actually following your real passion and skills, of course I think we grow in everything we try to learn. However if you are not truly passionate and are only doing it for the name… it really cannot go further then a certain level. You cannot fake passion, I have recently seen that my desire to make  bikes, stems a lot from ego, self-absorption and a desire to appear something good before other people. How did I come to this conclusion? I saw that in making one bike, 4 different people had to assist me greatly, I couldn't actually bring myself to do it all myself, then I post my bike on facebook… its like… yes I did it… well yes, but with a LOT of help.  I know I always want to be good at things when I see that others are doing them well, I feel like its so cool… why can’t I learn it too. I think my hunger for learning is a great thing, but sometimes the motives behind it are kind of ego-related.

I have tried to learn and be so many things in my life, sad to say, most of the time it was not for me, to make me happy, or to be a good person. It was a lot of ego, because I wanted to appear a certain way to others, I always had a really strong fear of people not liking me. When I studied at college I was the most hated girl in the whole college, no one liked me and I had no friends at all. I think from this and from some childhood roots, I gained a really strong emotional attachment to the opinions and thoughts of others. Someone elses compliments or criticism could ruin me or build me to an incredible level.

 When we break down ourselves and think about it.. how crazy can we be to base our feelings on someone.. when they themselves are so unstable, their thoughts change as do their actions, how can we allow them to sway us or to damage or to uplift us?

I have recently come to see that to truly follow our passions, we must be true to ourselves, be true to what we want, what we really think about something. We need to get away from doing things to be cool, but to do things that are right… from the inside out. I won’t be stopping learning about bikes, because I am interested, but I have to admit, I am far far far away from ever being able to call myself a bike mechanic or to say that I know something about bike repair and making bikes. My knowledge is rudimentary and so are my skills.. and that is ok, because I am in a position where I am learning and growing everyday, I am learning when all those other people help me put together my bike, I am watching and yes I am doing what I can. However I am no expert… I may never be, today I learn… tomorrow…. who knows. 

Its really ok to not be good at something, to be a beginner, to be dumb sometimes, to not get things, but I think we have to admit it more. I often tell people a lot of stories about who I am… ‘Oh I own a business…’… ‘Oh I repair bikes’… ‘Oh I used to be a dancer’… yeah there are truth in all the things I say about myself… but I don’t feel ready or qualified to say that I am really able to do those things perfectly yet. I learnt that if you tell people an uplifted story of yourself, if you brag and exaggerate about who you actually are… you cannot learn properly. Because imagine this…. Let’s put it on simple terms… you go to school and tell the teachers you are sooo smart, you are a genius (but really you are normal intelligence), you tell them how you did this and that… they think… wow… and put you in the hardest class… its too hard.. your learning jump was too high… you will sit there and not understand a word of what is being said. We should be on the level we are supposed to be, then when people give you advice, or when you get stuck in a situation where you have to explain yourself or really give some proof of your knowledge, you won’t be shitting your pants, because you were bullshitting everyone the whole time and actually you are bullshit. None of us are bullshit, we are all something great, but what I really am is who I want to be.

I know that I am not an expert in anything, I can accept it. I know I am no business genius, not an amazing entrepreneur, not a mathematical mind, I am not building an empire. I am not putting myself down when I say these things, because I do know who I really am. I understand that I am really working on myself, from the inside to the outside, I know that I am someone who can contribute and who can make peoples lives better, I know that I am able to do many, many things… because I am willing to try, I am brave.. I am all those things and I can back them up, because it is really me… and I am proving it every single day.  I know that with all the things I can do, all the things I am learning, all the things I really and truly am, at the core of me I have enough. 

Think about this… if they stripped you down naked, took away all your frills, props and accessories. If you had to be real… with nothing on you at all, except all that is in you. What would you be? And who would you be? Because without all this hipster, biking, tattoo, business, designing, dancing, artistic pile of shit stuff that I own and that I have on me… I know that what I am without it all is what really counts… I am a small person, I have not always been good, I have not always been right, I am a very small person, just like everyone else, but I am trying, I am here today because I am trying to move forward and to make this life the best it can be. I hope that I never forget it. 

The subtle art of Rejection

When you feel that you cannot be good at anything in life, and all your talents and skills are meaningless in today’s society… do not give up… there is one thing you can become skilled in and learn to handle that will help you in you future. REJECTION is a scary word for all of us, when we get rejected in any area of our lives our ego is hurt and its hard for us to feel confident in ourselves. However I have been making many a mental switch these days, figuring out why certain things trigger negativity and depression in our lives. I have realized that although it is hard to be rejected, I can learn to handle it in the right way, so that every rejection inspires me to achieve more, be better and understand others.

THE REJECTION CHALLENGE

When I was in Graz I read an interesting article about a guy who experienced a heavy love rejection, it had been so hard for him that he had become a total introvert and didn't go out anymore or talk to people because of his fear. He realized how crippling it had become to him and decided to take action to get himself more used to being rejected. In order to do this he set about getting one rejection every day, he would ask people absurd things and challenge himself to be in rejectable situations so that he could toughen himself to those situations. If you think about it, one person telling you no to something has no indication of the real evaluation of your life or skills, most people’s perspective of you or of what you are doing when they tell you ‘no’ is more of a direct reflection of them then of you. The more times we put ourselves out there with the possibility of being rejected in any thing, there are also more chances of being accepted. If you try more, you will probably lose more, but also probably win more.

I set about making myself a similar challenge to this guy, every day I tried to do one thing that was scary or counter intuitive. What was funny was that I didn’t end up getting rejected as much as I thought, I actually got more accepted. For instance I went to a pub with my friend for a drink, I asked for the manager and requested a job, he asked me to come back for an interview… I was really surprised, but somehow it worked and gave me a great feeling of confidence.  I didn't keep the challenge up for the whole month of February, but the times when I did try it made me realize that sometimes we are not trying anything because of fear of not getting a positive answer.

There is a quote that I guess we all know, it says ‘fortune favors the brave’. The more accepting we are to say YES to more things and not to fear the answers and responses from others when we suggest something, the more chances we have for something to go right. I want to create more opportunity for opportunities in my life, by asking more questions, being more bold, and not being afraid of the response.